RELIGIOUS ISSUES

Religious Issues

Religious Issues

The Oath of Allegiance is one of the religious issues that are being faced in the Western schools. It was written in 1892 by the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America, and for the first time, the students uttered it in public schools in the jubilee celebrations of the Day Columbus in October 1892, during the ceremony of raising the national flag. The first text in the Pledge of Allegiance has the form:

“I pledge allegiance to my flag and the republic, which he represents: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all” (Bellamy, Francis, 1953).

The exact authorship of the oath is not known, since the oath was published without the signature and the copyright is not protected. There is a version that the author of the oath was chairman of the National Committee, planning anniversary celebrations, Francis Bellamy. He worked at the magazine for young people, where the text of the oath was printed. Another version claims that the author was James Aphem oath, who worked in publishing, producing this magazine.

In 1923, the vague phrase “my flag” was replaced by more specific: "the flag of the United States," as for the newly arriving immigrants, it has gained dubious value and could mean the flag of that country from whence they came. In 1924, the phrase was further clarified, "the flag of the United States of America." In June 22, 1942, the Oath received official recognition of Congress , and was included in the Code of the U.S. flag. In 1945, it received its official name: "Pledge of Allegiance." In 1954, the text of the oath made the last change: after the words “one nation" by the Congress adopted the law added the words "under God" (Baer, John, 2007).

In 2002, the U.S. federal appeals court has ruled on the unconstitutionality of the text of the oath on the grounds that the mention of God violates one of the paragraphs of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, prohibiting Congress to enact laws establishing a state religion. In 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned this decision on procedural grounds without addressing the constitutionality of the text of the oath. In 2005, the U.S. Federal Court after a re-submission of the claim group of parents decided to re-oath unconstitutional and ruled that in schools where children learn the applicants' Oath of Allegiance "cannot read”.

Despite the fact that the U.S. Supreme Court in 1943, the decided that children should not be forced to reading the oath, in practice, students and pupils of kindergartens throughout the U.S. and still have to say it every morning under the guidance and with direct participation of teachers or tutors (Olander, Herbert, 1980).

At the same time, the practice of ritual is very diverse. For example, in Texas apart from the oath of loyalty to the U.S. flag is pronounced similar oath of allegiance to the flag of Texas. In Missouri, students recite the oath every day, and once a week, and in ...